My Girlfriend Pokemon Master
by someone the human
Summary: Admit it, you know you wish this would happen to you.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: The Shirt

It was Friday, my favorite day of the week. It was my Pikachu T-shirt, my favorite shirt. Those were the only two reasons I decided to wear it. I didn't expect anything to come of it. Wearing a Pokemon shirt to school was a statement of coolness ostensibly, as if I wasn't really a closet Pokemon fanatic and was merely tipping my hat to a former age when it was cool to like Pokemon. Plus, I was excited for the weekend to arrive; we were taking a family vacation up north to see our cousins and hit the Six Flags theme park, so it seemed only proper to wear a shirt that signified my inner enthusiasm for life in general. It's not like I planned on anything coming from it.

In my high school, I'm a pretty well liked guy. I'm on the football team, and while I'm not the strongest, fastest, or toughest guy in school, I'm tight with the guys that are, so some of the respect they get transfers to me. It's enough to keep the bullies away, at least. In fact, I'm rather proud of my little social niche these days. I play somewhat of a balancing act, splitting time between "popular" people like the stereotypical jocks on the football team and the "unpopular" people like the stereotypical nerds who, like me, enjoy spending lunch hour testing our freshly EV trained competitive battling teams and playing _Yu-gi-oh!_ I'm on good terms with the majority of kids in the school, giving me no enemies whatsoever. I may not be the life of the party, but I know I can be understood and accepted no matter where I go. And my grades aren't bad either, so my parents give me a healthy amount of freedom. Not a bad deal at all, eh?

I even have my own car. Nothing fancy, but a car is a car. That's how it all began. I had just parked it and straightened out my Pikachu shirt before walking to my first period class. I was feeling more than a little proud, for today was a good day. My shirt was a little tight around my chest and biceps, as I had had it since I was young. And while I'm certainly not a gym rat, playing football has brought me some definition; and what's the harm that this particular shirt capitalized on that? So I kept my shoulders back as I strode gracefully onto campus.

Some of the kids I passed offered cheerful greetings as we passed, others looked as though they had been betrayed to learn the weekend was still another 24 hours away. I was just reaching out to pull open the door and enter the school when it opened from the inside and she stepped out. As a regal queen she appeared, beautiful and noble. I had trained myself as a Pokemon Master would to overcome all distractions and focus on the matter at hand, but when a girl this beautiful suddenly appears this close to you, it still makes you stop and stare.

Madison is her name. Although I've never actually talked to her, I have always sort of had a crush on her, mostly because she is drop-dead gorgeous. She has soft, long, wavy red hair. A pure red, with a hint of gold, like the turned leaves of an aspen tree in the autumn. It wasn't the dark burgundy of artificially dyed hair, but the stunning bright hue achieved only by a natural red-head. Her body is the perfect specimen of femininity, with all the shapes and curves of Venus herself. Even now she wore the skin-tight girl jeans I'd grown so fond of, and coupled with the fitted jacket over her shirt, I could easily see her slender fitness.

"What's up?" She smiled, still holding the door open at least a full second after I froze.

Getting a hold of myself, I caught the door and replied back, "how's it going?"

I was about to retreat before making even more of a fool of myself when she said, "I love your shirt!"

"Thanks!" I returned with a smile, glancing at it briefly to give it my own recognition. "It's my lucky shirt. I got a free McFlurry once thanks to it."

She laughed at that. "Nice." Just then, the bell rang, signaling that it was time to hurry to class. With a final wave, she turned to go her way.

I watched her walk for a second, absolutely bursting with pleasure on the inside. If I only had a chance with her, I would be a lucky guy. But, I thought as I turned and entered the school on my way to class, it was probably never to be. You see, as much as I like girls, (and I love girls!) I always get so nervous around them. I am shaking a little even now, clenching my gut tightly to try and make the jitters evaporate more quickly. I have never been able to bring myself to ask one out. Not even Jessica, the obsession from my sophomore year. I was so infatuated with her that I, well, actually stalked her during school. I memorized her class schedule and took a slightly longer route to a couple of my classes just so I could pass her locker every break. All while never once initiating contact—I never talked to her at all, just gazed from a distance all year.

And by the end of the year, I had driven myself so insane with my inner turmoil of wanting to be with her yet never having the courage to try, that I finally just got sick of it and flushed all my feelings for her down the drain the first week or two of summer vacation. I guess I still like her, but since I've admitted to myself I'll never have the guts to ask her out, I just sort of force myself not to get so love sick anymore. Plus she's started dating someone else, so it doesn't matter anymore anyways.

Still, this already good morning just got better, and not even sitting down in my boring English class (which most other students use to complete their last few cycles of REM sleep for the morning) can dim my spirits now.

* * *

If anything, my mood got better throughout the day. I beat Mikey in a battle during lunch thanks to my Scizor's timely critical hit against his Mega-Gyarados, then we traded cards for the remainder of our free time. I also somehow managed to ace my history test. I only had one class to go before the weekend unofficially arrived, and it was one of my favorites: math.

I actually really like math. I think it helps me in competitive battling, and vice versa, so my math grade is always one of my best ones. I used to follow the crowd and hate math like everyone else, but that was back in middle school. I genuinely enjoy it now, so I knew that the last hour of school would fly by and I was already making plans for the big trip. That's why what happened next, I did not expect.

I forgot to mention Madison is in my math class. She usually sits a row behind me and a few seats to the right, perfect for spying on when I turn round to check the clock, but I don't actually get the chance to properly see or talk to her from here. Which, I guess, is for the best, since I would just get nervous anyway.

So you can imagine how surprised I was when she took the seat that was usually unoccupied next to me. "What's up?" She asked, just like she did this morning.

Fortunately, I didn't freeze this time. "Not much," I said casually, as if I had expected her to sit there. "Just waiting for the weekend to roll around."

"Oh my gosh, I am so ready for school to get out," she agreed.

"Any plans?" I asked.

"Yeah, some friends and I are going to carve pumpkins for Halloween."

Ah yes, I remembered, Halloween was a week away. "Cool," I commented, remembering my own Jack O'lantern I'd just carved the other day. It was no small work of art; I'd carved it to look like a backward-facing Pikachu, and it was pretty cool in my opinion. It was an experiment since I wanted to do something a little more complicated next year, like a Groudon. "I already carved my pumpkin," I said, pulling up a picture on my phone to show her. "I got the idea from this shirt, actually."

"That is so awesome!" She exclaimed. "Last year, I did the batman symbol for my pumpkin, but it didn't turn out as nice as that!"

"Hey, I bet it still looked cool," I replied, suddenly impressed that she was that into nerdy things. "I mean, you can't go wrong with Batman."

That made her laugh, and I couldn't hide my smile, either. I'd never had a conversation this long with a girl before, especially one that had supermodel potential!

"You know," she said tentatively while dropping her voice closer to a whisper, as if entering dangerous terrain, "I still kind of like Pokemon. I still sometimes, you know, look at my old cards I had back in Elementary School."

"Yeah," I agreed, "it was pretty cool back in the day. I really liked the Gameboy games, do you remember those? Red and Blue Version? Now those were classics," I said with a hint of caution myself. After all, couldn't risk exposing myself too much as a nerd or things would probably turn south.

However, just then the bell rang, and the teacher stood and silenced the class. My heart was beating much faster than normal, and while we listened to the lecture for the duration of class, I was suddenly acutely aware of what my awkward hands were doing the whole time. Madison was sitting by me, and my mind kept on constant alert sensing her to my side. My thoughts were split between thinking about our short conversation and thinking about what our teacher was saying, and let's just say the educator was fighting a losing battle. Finally class ended, and as I was packing my things, Madison turned to me once again.

"Hey, why don't you come carve pumpkins with my friends and me? You can show me some of your tricks."

My first reaction was hesitation. If my insides were freaking out from being asked to hang out with Madison, I sure hoped I wasn't showing it. Did I want to hang out with her? Heck yes. Was I intimidated at the thought of spending time with her and her friends? Absolutely. I was suddenly terrified. It didn't help that I'd been given no warning she was about to invite me to hang out. Luckily, I had a makeshift strategy already in place.

"Oh, I wish I could, but my family is going up north this weekend," I said, once again cursing my fear of girls. "Maybe another time."

"Okay," she said, and I couldn't tell if she was legitimately sad or just being understanding.

I stood and stretched before grabbing my backpack. "It was nice talking to you," I said, trying to put on my best smile.

"It was nice talking to you, too," she said back.

"See ya," I said with a wave and walked out the door. Man, this is definitely my lucky shirt.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Passing Notes

Alright, so you're probably thinking I'm a big wuss. And I can't say I blame you. Believe me, all weekend long I couldn't get Madison's invitation out of my mind; wondering what might have been if I'd just said yes. I mean, it's not like I really could go even if I did have the courage to just do it; what I said about my family and me taking a trip for the weekend was true. But even if my schedule was open, would I have been able to man up and do it?

The thing is, I'm not even scared by most things. I told you that part of the trip was going to Six Flags, right? I went on every big ride they had, and none of them frightened me. I'm even on the football team! Granted, our team stinks and our season ended early since winning one game all year isn't near enough to make it into the playoffs. But it takes some serious guts to go out onto the field and charge full-speed at some beefy 300-pound psycho whose only goal is to turn your body into a mangled heap of limbs and pain at the bottom of a sweaty dogpile. Yet that doesn't scare me, either. No, like a true Pokemon Master, I conquered those and many other fears. Just not girls.

What is it about girls that scares me so? It's not something that I can really put into words. Maybe fear isn't even the right word to use when I say I'm afraid of them. All I can say is, the same thing that stops someone from going in a cave full of rattlesnakes stops me before I can ask a girl out. Alas. What kind of a Pokemon Trainer would I be, if Pokemon were real? I'd have all kinds of knowledge about training, like the knowledge that if I had my starter (and I would choose whatever water-type the local Professor offered) do battle against many Zubats or Magikarp, eventually my Pokemon's speed stat would be magically higher. But what use is that if I always let my fears control me? I'd never have the courage to go into that cave or cast my rod. And I could never expect my team to be brave for me when the battle grows hot.

Then I met Madison, that fateful day I wore my favorite shirt. I learned two things that day. One, I could carry on a conversation with a girl easily enough, at least for a minute or so. Two, there was a girl that showed enough interest in me to sit by me and start a conversation. That led to two questions. First, if I reciprocated that interest, would she be open to the possibility of forming a positive, indeed, romantic relationship? And if so, how would I be able to tell? Well, I figured the first indication would be if she sat by me again come Monday. The more difficult question to answer is whether I'd finally grab the bull by the horns and do something about it.

* * *

All too soon the weekend was over and I found myself back at school on a crisp Monday morning. And if I'd ever been nervous before, it was nothing like what I felt today. I couldn't even eat any breakfast because my stomach was so tied up in knots. And each class period that passed only made it worse. At lunch, one of my battling buddies Steve asked if I was sick. I told him I was sick of school.

By the time math was about to start, I was seriously considering ditching and going home early. It probably wouldn't affect my grade if I just missed one day, considering math is my best class. But somehow, walking through the hallway, I convinced myself that she probably wouldn't sit by me again anyway. After all, it's not like I am the most popular or most liked or even the most handsome boy in school, there is really nothing special about me. Nothing at all. I'm just an average Joe from an average school. Certainly not the kind of person that would attract a pretty girl. Still, a tiny part of me wished, hoped desperately that she'd be there.

I sat down in my usual seat and the bell rang, signaling the start of class. And Madison was not here. She wasn't just sitting somewhere else, she hadn't even come to class. That was a little strange, considering she was the kind of girl that had perfect attendance and a 4.0. But I guess nobody's perfect. I took a deep breath and forced myself to relax now that I knew she wasn't going to be here.

Five minutes into class, I almost fell out of my chair when Madison walked in, handed our teacher an excused tardy slip, and took the seat beside me.

"Hey," I whispered.

"What's up?" She answered. "Did I miss anything?"

"Just a little math with a side of blah blah blah," I said.

She giggled but quickly silenced herself when our teacher shot us a withering look. We got the message: no noise during the lecture. I turned my attention to him so he wouldn't get any more mad at us. Madison pulled out some paper and began taking notes.

After a minute of watching the teacher demonstrate the process of applying synthetic division, Madison slid her notes just a little my way so they were in my range of view (our desks are connected so she could just slide the paper a couple inches my way), and I saw it wasn't notes at all. She had written me a message. _So, how was your trip?_

I snatched her pen and wrote carefully, so she only saw my best handwriting. _It was fun. How was your pumpkin carving party?_

I held out her pen for her to take, and she smoothly took it with her left hand and began writing. _Pretty fun, _she wrote_._ Then I watched her draw a tic-tac-toe grid and mark an 'X' in the upper-right quadrant. She passed the pen back deftly with her left hand again, and since I am right-handed, I could just grab it and quickly take a turn. It worked out perfectly; she was left-handed and I was right-handed. She sat at my right and we could pass the pen and write in one fluid motion using only one hand each. We played "best four out of seven" before moving on to hangman and the dot game. It was so simple; I was getting used to being with her and was already feeling less nervous than before. Maybe girls weren't so scary after all!

And so we passed notes and played games the rest of class. Close to the end, we were playing a game where one of us would make a random squiggle mark and it would be up to the other to draw a picture out of it. When it was my turn, Madison drew a lumpy sort of hill-looking squiggle, and I don't know why, but to me it looked just like a Cyndaquil. So I took the notepad and drew out the rest of the outline and made it look like a cute little armadillo/anteater or whatever that cute little Johto starter is and added the flames coming out of its back, figuring she'd just think I drew an imaginary monster or something. Well, much to my surprise, she took the pen from me and wrote, _OMG! I love Cyndaquil!_

Aha! Well, that confirmed a feeling I'd had at the back of my mind all weekend. You see, I noticed that it wasn't until I wore a Pikachu shirt to school that Madison sat by me, and it probably wasn't a coincidence that she herself brought up the subject of Pokemon when we last conversed. So I guess you could say that this was somewhat of a test I thought up on the spot. To see if she was more of a fan of Pokemon than she was letting on. After all, if we had something like that in common, well, that significantly improved our chances of getting together. And a guy can dream.

Thinking quickly, I took back the pen and wrote, _how are you so knowledgeable in the ways of Pokemon?_

When I held the pen for her to take, she seemed to pause for a thoughtful moment before answering. _Actually, I'm kind of a nerd on the inside. I still like Pokemon even though it's not cool anymore._

I held my breath, hoping I wasn't pushing her away. _Me too!_ I wrote. _Pokemon is awesome, people just don't want to look like their little brothers and sisters who still like it._

_So you like Pokemon too?_ She wrote back.

_A little more than most people. I—_

I hesitated to write what I was about to say next.

She snatched the pen from my hand. _What?_

I took a deep breath before completing my thought. _ Well, you could say it's almost an unhealthy obsession. I actually still play Pokemon regularly, I even have the newest game, Pokemon X Version. I'm a seriously hardcore fan, but I don't tell most people since they'd think I'm a weirdo lol._

There it is. I laid it all on the line. Now if she really did like me, it would have to be in spite of my love for Pokemon. It was risky, since the capricious mind of a teenager can always change on a whim, and if stereotypes are ever applicable, then Madison was the gorgeous, popular, straight-A honor student who all the boys liked and it would be impossible for her to start going out with a Pokemon-loving nerd. I prepared myself for the likely event that this was the end.

I held my breath and waited for what she'd put down.

_That makes two of us._

The surge of sheer relief was overwhelming. My insides could have matched the Big Bang in intensity as an explosion of joy overcame me. I almost couldn't believe this was happening! This girl was basically hand-picked for me, there is literally nothing I can think of right now that would make me more attracted to her. A chance like this only comes once in the lifetime of a high-schooler, and for once I finally had no fear to do what was necessary.

_Do you want to hang out sometime?_ It wasn't technically asking her out, but it was close enough. And for some reason, it was easier to make my hand than my lips do the work in asking. Then it all came crashing down when I saw her response.

_Oh, sorry, but my family is going up north this weekend, so I can't._

Wait a second, that sounded familiar. Almost too familiar, like I'd said that very sentence myself… because I did! I think she's teasing me!

_Oh, I understand,_ I wrote, playing along.

She laid the pen down and I felt her searching me out of the corner of my eye. Finally, she picked it back up and wrote, _just kidding! Let's hang out tomorrow after school._

By the time class was over, I glided out of the room feeling light as a feather dancing on a draft of wind.

* * *

**Please please please review! I haven't got one yet! I need to know whether this is a good story so I can keep writing or give up!**


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